Special Edition X-Men #1 (and Marvel Fanfare #1-4)
Okay, this is an obscure item I picked out of a 50-cent bin. It's a reprint of Giant-Size X-Men #1 for the first part, with a new story about Kitty and Illyana exploring the new mansion by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum. Marvel Fanfare #1-4 were a story in the Savage Land, but unfortunately I only have issues 3-4. I'll summarize what I know from the flashbacks for the first two issues, at least!
Special Edition X-Men #1: Kitty is working out in the danger room, and having a bad time of it. Illyana comes to talk to her and asks for a tour of the house. Kitty shows her the new danger room with its new safety measures: it's now buried ten meters underground and access is restricted. She shows Illyana the Professor's office, study, and private quarters, plus Cerebro. She shows her Storm's room with momentos from her trip across the Sahara when she was young. (Kitty comments that she thinks Storm killed someone on the trip and maybe she fell in love. That's maybe only one of two references to the Black Panther relationship before the last decade!)
Kitty shows Illyana Jean's room, with only basic furnishings, as no-one lives there currently. She shows her Cyclops's room, which has a model blackbird, a model space shuttle, a picture of Jean, and a picture of Cyclops, Havok, and Corsair. She shows her Wolverine's room, which is half outdoorsy redneck and half elegant Japanese decor. In Wolverine's room we have empty beer cans, a cowboy hat, a canteen, a bonsai bush, and pictures of Mariko Yashida and of Carol Danvers in her Air Force uniform. (Come to think of it, Carol was the first character that was retconned to be one of Wolverine's old buddies. She certainly wasn't the last!)
Nightcrawler's room has a jungle gym on the ceiling, an Errol Flynn poster, and what appears to be a painting (maybe a picture) of Nightcrawler dressed like a swashbuckler, with a sword in one hand and one held with his tail. He also has a baby pteradactyl named Colonel Pterydactlee, which is a momento from the Savage Land. (Okay, the pteradactyl never appears before or after this one panel to my knowledge. Illyana questions how big it will get, sort of repeating a part of Lockheed's deal. His name is supposedly a "gross pun" but I don't get it, I'm afraid!)
In Colossus's room is a soccer ball, some weights, and an easel. Kitty and Illyana share a room, and it's a mess. Among the other debris, there is a Garfield poster, an Empire Strikes Back Poster, a stuffed bear that's frequently appeared before and a stuffed E.T. with a phone on Kitty's bed, and a stuffed Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear on Illyana's bed. There is also a stuffed Lockheed from Kitty's Fairy Tale hanging from the ceiling. (The pteradactyl and stuffed Lockheed give me the impression this was finished long before it was printed, and that the flesh-and-blood Lockheed wasn't planned when it was created. It's dated at March, 1983, a mere two months after Lockheed first appeared, so that seems plausible!)
The two talk about Kitty's feelings for Colossus, and Illyana is pretty flip about it. Kitty's parents' divorce has her worried about being in love. She wonders if she had been around if their relationship could have been salvaged. (This is pretty close to how I've heard real adolescent girls talk when their parents are divorced, actually.)
They swim through the freezing lake to the underwater airlock leading to the hangar. The blackbird is apparently officially nicknamed Kitty's Dragon, now. (I'm not sure this sticks, though.)
They puruse the shower and changing area, newly installed, and fool around with the holographic security systems. They see an intruder and go to investigate. Illyana makes a cryptic comment about her demon having been difficult to kill. They find the intruder is actually a surprise party for Kitty -- that Illyana's in on -- as she missed her 14th birthday while in space. The X-Men, New Mutants, Starjammers, Lilandra, Stevie Hunter, Havok, and Polaris are present. (That was her first trip into space, with her and Nightcrawler being hostages of the Shi'ar. I wonder if Polaris is a mis-colored Carol, since she is not present, while Havok was at the mansion before, but not Polaris. On the other hand, Carol is next seen visiting her parents, so maybe not.)
Overview: A pretty neat little story, with lots of good character stuff that makes the book so good. Evidence for its placement: Kitty's parents are divorced, she isn't good friends with Illyana yet, the mansion is new, and the New Mutants and Starjammers are present. Between X-Men #169 and #170 seems pretty accurate to me. Also, the way Dave Cockrum draws Illyana's hair is just awful: like dandilion fluff with a ponytail.
Marvel Fanfare #1-2: In a summary of issues #1-2, Angel says that Tanya Anderson, the former girlfriend of Karl Lykos, aka Sauron. She had discovered that he was alive via a magazine article and wanted Angel to help her find him. The two of them, along with reporter Peter Parker (that's Spider-Man!) went along but were attacked by the Savage Land Mutates. Tanya escaped and found Karl and Ka-Zar. Peter and Angel, meanwhile, were devolved into monsters. The others fought the Savage Land Mutates, and Karl absorbed the mutation energy off of Angel and Peter, restoring them, but transforming himself back into Sauron. From there, Angel got the help of the X-Men.
Marvel Fanfare #3: The blackbird flies to Antarctica. There is a nasty blizzard, but Storm protects them, with difficulty. We find that Cyclops is sick and Kitty is caring for him. They enter a military base 100 meters below the ice. There is an earthquake that collapses the base, and the X-Men fight through the wreckage, helping those in need. Storm's claustrophobia is triggered. (I think these bases are mentioned again around X-Men #250, where they are destroyed.)
The X-Men enter the Savage Land, where they find villages slaughtered, with crucified remains. Gaza of the Savage Land Mutates attacks, followed by Vertigo, Amphibius, Timberius, and Barbarus. Brainchild and Zaladane watch via a viewscreen. The X-Men prevail. (I should talk about the Savage Land Mutates in brief, here. They were created by Magneto during the Neal Adams era. They were created by mutating "swamp savages." Gaza is blind but his other senses compensate. Vertigo can cause feelings of vertigo in her targets. Amphibius is a frog man. Timberius controls wolves. Barbarus has four arms and super strength. Brain child has super intelligence. Zaladane was leader of the cult of Garrok, who the X-Men fought in the 110's.)
Amphibius tells them all they want to know, escaping soon afterwards. Sauron, who is in cahoots with Zaladane and the Mutates, attacks, easily taking out the X-Men, except for Angel, who falls unconscious. In the enemy base, once Garrok's super city, the X-Men are started to be exposed to the devolution machine. Angel wakes up to someone whose presence astonishes him. The end!
Marvel Fanfare #4: Angel is confronted with Ka-Zar and finds he's in Ka-Zar's camp. Angel is afraid to confront Sauron, as he's felt his power before. Ka-Zar convinces him. They prepare to attack the city, making a catapult with some sort of special "warhead." (Angel fell victim to Sauron's hypnotic powers during Sauron's first story.)
Meanwhile at the enemy fortress, the X-Men are being warped by the devolution machine. The catapult missile hits the fortress and Angel baits Sauron out. Ka-Zar swims to the fortress, which is surrounded by water, killing a prehistoric water critter on the way, as it attacks him. Angel gets zapped by Sauron, overhead. Meanwhile, we find that Brainchild wants Storm to be his woman. She refuses, incurring his feeble wrath, and Ka-Zar comes in and take Brainchild out. Ka-Zar wants to kill him, but Storm stops him. They find Ka-Zar's wife, Shanna, and Tanya Anderson in cages, reduced to subhuman monsters. Nightcrawler is being transformed himself, and Storm and Ka-Zar take out Zaladane, who's at the controls. The X-Men bust free, except for the mutated Nightcrawler, and defeat the Mutates. Nightcrawler is reverted and they leave the fortress. Outside, Sauron has the unconscious Angel, but the X-Men batter him until he reverts to his human form.
The Savage Land Mutates are devolved and the machines that created all these problems are destroyed. Karl Lykos wants to die, but the X-Men tell him that Professor X has been working on a cure. Back at the mansion, he is subjected to treatments that burn the virus out of his body and he is cured. He gets back together with Tanya and everyone is happy. The end! (This is the situation Karl Lykos is in when he appears next in X-Force #3. Toad, using intelligence not demonstrated before, somehow reverts him to Sauron permanently, using Tanya's life force. Kind of lame. Then again, the Savage Land Mutates re-appear too, slightly different, with no explanation. A clue could be that they appear in the headquarters of the High Evolutionary.)
Overview: A strange story, but not bad, really. The artist for issue #3 is Dave Cockrum, and the artist for issue #4 is Paul Smith, mirroring the changeover in the artists on X-Men. In fact, Paul Smith got the gig as regular penciler on X-Men because of Marvel Fanfare #4. The books have no ads and are on nice paper. There are backup stories that are of no interest to these dissections. I'm not sure anything of interest came out of the series. The Savage Land Mutates and Zaladane start causing trouble for the X-Men in about 100 issues.
The placement of this story goes waaay back. I skipped it before because I was missing parts. (But here it is anyways!) Cyclops is part of the team, so it takes place after X-Men #151, but the first brood storyline started in X-Men #154, and it was a long time before Professor X came out of his coma. I guess it COULD have happened after he came out of his coma but before Deathbird abducted the X-Men in #161, but that seems like a stretch. It was bi-monthly, and the first part appeared in March, 1982, the second in May, the third in July, and the fourth in September. In March, 1982, the X-Men started the first brood storyline, so I think my placement is pretty good.
Special Edition X-Men #1: Kitty is working out in the danger room, and having a bad time of it. Illyana comes to talk to her and asks for a tour of the house. Kitty shows her the new danger room with its new safety measures: it's now buried ten meters underground and access is restricted. She shows Illyana the Professor's office, study, and private quarters, plus Cerebro. She shows her Storm's room with momentos from her trip across the Sahara when she was young. (Kitty comments that she thinks Storm killed someone on the trip and maybe she fell in love. That's maybe only one of two references to the Black Panther relationship before the last decade!)
Kitty shows Illyana Jean's room, with only basic furnishings, as no-one lives there currently. She shows her Cyclops's room, which has a model blackbird, a model space shuttle, a picture of Jean, and a picture of Cyclops, Havok, and Corsair. She shows her Wolverine's room, which is half outdoorsy redneck and half elegant Japanese decor. In Wolverine's room we have empty beer cans, a cowboy hat, a canteen, a bonsai bush, and pictures of Mariko Yashida and of Carol Danvers in her Air Force uniform. (Come to think of it, Carol was the first character that was retconned to be one of Wolverine's old buddies. She certainly wasn't the last!)
Nightcrawler's room has a jungle gym on the ceiling, an Errol Flynn poster, and what appears to be a painting (maybe a picture) of Nightcrawler dressed like a swashbuckler, with a sword in one hand and one held with his tail. He also has a baby pteradactyl named Colonel Pterydactlee, which is a momento from the Savage Land. (Okay, the pteradactyl never appears before or after this one panel to my knowledge. Illyana questions how big it will get, sort of repeating a part of Lockheed's deal. His name is supposedly a "gross pun" but I don't get it, I'm afraid!)
In Colossus's room is a soccer ball, some weights, and an easel. Kitty and Illyana share a room, and it's a mess. Among the other debris, there is a Garfield poster, an Empire Strikes Back Poster, a stuffed bear that's frequently appeared before and a stuffed E.T. with a phone on Kitty's bed, and a stuffed Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear on Illyana's bed. There is also a stuffed Lockheed from Kitty's Fairy Tale hanging from the ceiling. (The pteradactyl and stuffed Lockheed give me the impression this was finished long before it was printed, and that the flesh-and-blood Lockheed wasn't planned when it was created. It's dated at March, 1983, a mere two months after Lockheed first appeared, so that seems plausible!)
The two talk about Kitty's feelings for Colossus, and Illyana is pretty flip about it. Kitty's parents' divorce has her worried about being in love. She wonders if she had been around if their relationship could have been salvaged. (This is pretty close to how I've heard real adolescent girls talk when their parents are divorced, actually.)
They swim through the freezing lake to the underwater airlock leading to the hangar. The blackbird is apparently officially nicknamed Kitty's Dragon, now. (I'm not sure this sticks, though.)
They puruse the shower and changing area, newly installed, and fool around with the holographic security systems. They see an intruder and go to investigate. Illyana makes a cryptic comment about her demon having been difficult to kill. They find the intruder is actually a surprise party for Kitty -- that Illyana's in on -- as she missed her 14th birthday while in space. The X-Men, New Mutants, Starjammers, Lilandra, Stevie Hunter, Havok, and Polaris are present. (That was her first trip into space, with her and Nightcrawler being hostages of the Shi'ar. I wonder if Polaris is a mis-colored Carol, since she is not present, while Havok was at the mansion before, but not Polaris. On the other hand, Carol is next seen visiting her parents, so maybe not.)
Overview: A pretty neat little story, with lots of good character stuff that makes the book so good. Evidence for its placement: Kitty's parents are divorced, she isn't good friends with Illyana yet, the mansion is new, and the New Mutants and Starjammers are present. Between X-Men #169 and #170 seems pretty accurate to me. Also, the way Dave Cockrum draws Illyana's hair is just awful: like dandilion fluff with a ponytail.
Marvel Fanfare #1-2: In a summary of issues #1-2, Angel says that Tanya Anderson, the former girlfriend of Karl Lykos, aka Sauron. She had discovered that he was alive via a magazine article and wanted Angel to help her find him. The two of them, along with reporter Peter Parker (that's Spider-Man!) went along but were attacked by the Savage Land Mutates. Tanya escaped and found Karl and Ka-Zar. Peter and Angel, meanwhile, were devolved into monsters. The others fought the Savage Land Mutates, and Karl absorbed the mutation energy off of Angel and Peter, restoring them, but transforming himself back into Sauron. From there, Angel got the help of the X-Men.
Marvel Fanfare #3: The blackbird flies to Antarctica. There is a nasty blizzard, but Storm protects them, with difficulty. We find that Cyclops is sick and Kitty is caring for him. They enter a military base 100 meters below the ice. There is an earthquake that collapses the base, and the X-Men fight through the wreckage, helping those in need. Storm's claustrophobia is triggered. (I think these bases are mentioned again around X-Men #250, where they are destroyed.)
The X-Men enter the Savage Land, where they find villages slaughtered, with crucified remains. Gaza of the Savage Land Mutates attacks, followed by Vertigo, Amphibius, Timberius, and Barbarus. Brainchild and Zaladane watch via a viewscreen. The X-Men prevail. (I should talk about the Savage Land Mutates in brief, here. They were created by Magneto during the Neal Adams era. They were created by mutating "swamp savages." Gaza is blind but his other senses compensate. Vertigo can cause feelings of vertigo in her targets. Amphibius is a frog man. Timberius controls wolves. Barbarus has four arms and super strength. Brain child has super intelligence. Zaladane was leader of the cult of Garrok, who the X-Men fought in the 110's.)
Amphibius tells them all they want to know, escaping soon afterwards. Sauron, who is in cahoots with Zaladane and the Mutates, attacks, easily taking out the X-Men, except for Angel, who falls unconscious. In the enemy base, once Garrok's super city, the X-Men are started to be exposed to the devolution machine. Angel wakes up to someone whose presence astonishes him. The end!
Marvel Fanfare #4: Angel is confronted with Ka-Zar and finds he's in Ka-Zar's camp. Angel is afraid to confront Sauron, as he's felt his power before. Ka-Zar convinces him. They prepare to attack the city, making a catapult with some sort of special "warhead." (Angel fell victim to Sauron's hypnotic powers during Sauron's first story.)
Meanwhile at the enemy fortress, the X-Men are being warped by the devolution machine. The catapult missile hits the fortress and Angel baits Sauron out. Ka-Zar swims to the fortress, which is surrounded by water, killing a prehistoric water critter on the way, as it attacks him. Angel gets zapped by Sauron, overhead. Meanwhile, we find that Brainchild wants Storm to be his woman. She refuses, incurring his feeble wrath, and Ka-Zar comes in and take Brainchild out. Ka-Zar wants to kill him, but Storm stops him. They find Ka-Zar's wife, Shanna, and Tanya Anderson in cages, reduced to subhuman monsters. Nightcrawler is being transformed himself, and Storm and Ka-Zar take out Zaladane, who's at the controls. The X-Men bust free, except for the mutated Nightcrawler, and defeat the Mutates. Nightcrawler is reverted and they leave the fortress. Outside, Sauron has the unconscious Angel, but the X-Men batter him until he reverts to his human form.
The Savage Land Mutates are devolved and the machines that created all these problems are destroyed. Karl Lykos wants to die, but the X-Men tell him that Professor X has been working on a cure. Back at the mansion, he is subjected to treatments that burn the virus out of his body and he is cured. He gets back together with Tanya and everyone is happy. The end! (This is the situation Karl Lykos is in when he appears next in X-Force #3. Toad, using intelligence not demonstrated before, somehow reverts him to Sauron permanently, using Tanya's life force. Kind of lame. Then again, the Savage Land Mutates re-appear too, slightly different, with no explanation. A clue could be that they appear in the headquarters of the High Evolutionary.)
Overview: A strange story, but not bad, really. The artist for issue #3 is Dave Cockrum, and the artist for issue #4 is Paul Smith, mirroring the changeover in the artists on X-Men. In fact, Paul Smith got the gig as regular penciler on X-Men because of Marvel Fanfare #4. The books have no ads and are on nice paper. There are backup stories that are of no interest to these dissections. I'm not sure anything of interest came out of the series. The Savage Land Mutates and Zaladane start causing trouble for the X-Men in about 100 issues.
The placement of this story goes waaay back. I skipped it before because I was missing parts. (But here it is anyways!) Cyclops is part of the team, so it takes place after X-Men #151, but the first brood storyline started in X-Men #154, and it was a long time before Professor X came out of his coma. I guess it COULD have happened after he came out of his coma but before Deathbird abducted the X-Men in #161, but that seems like a stretch. It was bi-monthly, and the first part appeared in March, 1982, the second in May, the third in July, and the fourth in September. In March, 1982, the X-Men started the first brood storyline, so I think my placement is pretty good.